Xita Laotaitai — mainland China's 'king of queues' couldn't last 3 years in Hong Kong

Xita Laotaitai, a mainland Chinese barbecue chain that billed itself as 'the king of queues for grilled meat' and topped the Dianping ratings charts, entered Hong Kong in September 2023 with a flagship store in Tsim Sha Tsui East. A second location in Tseung Kwan O followed. Within 3 years, both were gone.

The Tsim Sha Tsui store closed in the second half of 2025 after its landlord, Wealthy Group, filed a lawsuit in May 2025 seeking three months of unpaid rent totalling approximately HK$918,000. The Tseung Kwan O store lasted a few months longer but was hit with a court auction order in January 2026 — the District Court granted a distraint warrant, and the store's contents were publicly auctioned to recover roughly HK$314,000 in unpaid rent. Less than 3 years after its grand opening, the brand had no presence left in Hong Kong.

Xita Laotaitai had been one of the most hyped mainland restaurant brands to enter Hong Kong during the post-pandemic wave of Chinese food chains testing the market. On the mainland it was a genuine phenomenon — consistently ranking first on Dianping's taste and好评 (positive review) leaderboards for grilled meat. But the brand that conquered the mainland market could not make the economics work in Hong Kong, where rents are higher, competition is fierce, and consumer habits differ from the mainland cities where the chain built its reputation.

The company had publicly denied rent arrears in June 2024, posting on social media that it paid all rent 'on time according to the contract' and calling the rumours 'malicious slander harming the brand's reputation'. The court filings that followed showed the opposite. Separately, the company's director and shareholder, Liu Shengnan, was sued by Wynn Macau for approximately HK$3.14 million in unpaid gambling debts.